WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS? WHAT CAN YOU SEE? WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS? Cover most of the picture and reveal a section at a time – one soldier, then another, then the microbes, then the title (minus the key word)then ‘penicillin’ – see how long it takes them to work out what the lesson will be about – and why does this poster suggest that penicillin is important?

Cover most of the picture and reveal a section at a time – one soldier, then another, then the microbes, then the title (minus the key word)then ‘penicillin’ – see how long it takes them to work out what the lesson will be about – and why does this poster suggest that penicillin is important?

Cover most of the picture and reveal a section at a time – one soldier, then another, then the microbes, then the title (minus the key word)then ‘penicillin’ – see how long it takes them to work out what the lesson will be about – and why does this poster suggest that penicillin is important?

What can you infer from this source? (3 marks) Cover most of the picture and reveal a section at a time – one soldier, then another, then the microbes, then the title (minus the key word)then ‘penicillin’ – see how long it takes them to work out what the lesson will be about – and why does this poster suggest that penicillin is important?

Fleming, Florey and Chain: The discovery and development of Penicillin Edexcel IGCSE

What is Penicillin? Penicillin is an antibiotic. ‘Antibiotic’ literally means ‘against life’ – but antibiotics only kill life that is harmful to living creatures, i.e. bacteria. A bacterial infection is caused by millions of tiny bacteria that are trying to survive and multiply in the body. An antibiotic attacks and kills these bacteria. Before the development of penicillin, many people suffered and died from bacterial infections that are no longer considered dangerous today.

http://www.history.com/shows/modern- marvels/videos/inventions-of-war- penicillin#inventions-of-war-penicillin

So did Fleming actually discover penicillin? Penicillin is made from a mould called penicillium. This mould was first discovered in the early 19th century by John Sanderson who found that very little grew near it. In the 1880s, Joseph Lister noted these observations and wrote to his brother to say that he intended to try penicillin on infected wounds. Lister successfully treated a nurse with an infected wound with penicillin, but did not leave any notes on the case and apparently did not continue his research in this area.

Who was Alexander Fleming? Alexander Fleming was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1881. He was the son of a farmer. When he was 13, he moved to London to live with his older brother. After graduating from the University of London, he became a bacteriologist at St. Mary’s Hospital in the city.

The great re-discovery of penicillin! It was in the laboratory of St. Mary’s Hospital in 1928 that Fleming rediscovered the properties of penicillin. This source comes from a biography, The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming, written in 1963. It describes when Fleming was visited by his friend, Pryce. What factor would you say has here contributed to the discovery of penicillin? Chance.

‘Fleming was in his little laboratory as usual, surrounded by innumerable dishes. The cautious Scot disliked being separated from his cultures before he was quite sure there was nothing more to be learned from them... Fleming took up several old cultures and removed the lids. Several of the containers had been contaminated with mould... ‘As soon as you uncover a culture dish,’ he said to Pryce, ‘something tiresome is sure to happen. Things fall out of the air.’ Suddenly he stopped talking, then, after a moment’s observation, said... ‘That’s funny...’ On the cultures at which he was looking there was a growth of mould, as on several of the others, but on this particular one, all around the mould, the colonies of staphylococci had been dissolved...’

So what did the mould look like? The mould Penicillium Notatum, shown growing in a Petri dish, and in close-up

How had it got into Fleming’s dish? On investigation, Fleming found that penicillin spores had got on to the dish, perhaps blown into his lab through an open window. The penicillin was killing the staphylococci. Whether the account we just read it how it really happened, we cannot be sure – even Fleming’s own accounts of how it happened varied! Does that matter? The important point is that Fleming identified the mould and saw its significance – that penicillin could be applied to or injected into areas where there were penicillin-sensitive microbes . However, Fleming did not have the facilities or the support to develop and test his idea that penicillin could fight infection.

Create a storyboard of who and how Fleming discovered Penicillin 1 2 3 Caption 4 5 6 Why is Fleming usually thought of as the discoverer of penicillin? Why do you think that so many people observed the power of penicillin but did not develop it as a cure?

Florey and Chain It was the Second World War which finally brought about the successful development of penicillin. In the 1930s two Oxford scientists, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, became interested in Fleming’s 1929 paper on penicillin. In 1939 they assembled a team of pathologists, chemists and biochemists, and three days after the outbreak of war Florey asked the British government for money to fund the team’s research into penicillin. Howard Florey (left) and Ernst Chain. What factors does this slide highlight? Individuals, governments Do you think this was a good time for Florey to approach the government for money into this kind of research? Why?

The development of penicillin Stage 1:Growing the penicillin This was a combination of the latest freeze-drying technology and some much more traditional equipment: thousands of milk bottles (in which to grow the penicillium mould), milk churns, a dog bath and a hand pump! From this, the team were able to gather a few grams of pure penicillin. Stage 2: Testing penicillin on animals There was enough penicillin to test it on eight mice. They were injected with a deadly bacteria (streptococci). Four of the mice were then given penicillin. 24 hours later the mice which had not been injected with penicillin were dead. Those who had been injected were healthy. Stage 3: The first human trial of penicillin By 1941 the team had enough penicillin to test it on a human. The patient had terrible abscesses which had spread from his mouth to his scalp, eyes, arm and even his lung. He was going to die – there was nothing to lose by trying penicillin. After four days of treatment he was much improved and was sitting up in bed – penicillin worked. However, they did not have enough, and after five days the supply ran out – the patient relapsed and died. Factors: technology, scientific experiment, individuals

Production continues... but not in great quantities! Although this first patient still died, it was clear that penicillin was a powerful drug. Production remained painfully slow, but as new batches were produced, two more patients were successfully treated. In August 1942, Fleming himself used penicillin to successfully treat a friend who had meningitis. But the war was producing thousands of casualties – penicillin needed to be mass produced if lives were to be saved.

Steps to Successful Mass Production June 1941: Florey travels to US to try to get drug companies to develop penicillin – not much interest. December 1941: US enters the war 1942: US government gives $80 million to 4 drug companies to find a way to mass produce penicillin. 1943: Mass production began. Penicillin first used by British army in North Africa. June 1944: Enough penicillin is available to treat all the casualties of D-Day. 1945: US Army using 2 million doses of penicillin a month After WW2: Penicillin made available for civilian use. Communication, war, governments, industry

How important was penicillin? It is estimated that without penicillin, another 12-15 per cent of wounded Allied soldiers would have died of infections. Penicillin also roughly halved the average time the Allied wounded spent in hospital.

How important was penicillin? Penicillin was a miracle drug when it was first developed. It could treat a wide range of infections and diseases, including streptococcus, scarlet fever, syphilis and gonorrhoea. How would we rate the significance of these men against Pasteur, Koch, Lister, Ehrlich... 1964 Penicillin video? In 1945, Fleming, Florey and Chain were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work on penicillin.

Colour code you mind map with the following things… Individuals Government Chance War Technology

Questions (HINT: you can use worksheet and books to help) What is penicillin?  Why do you think that penicillin was mass produced in 1942-1945 and not before? Do you think any one factor was particularly important to the development of penicillin? Who do you think deserves the credit for the discovery of penicillin?

What can you infer from this source? (3 marks) Cover most of the picture and reveal a section at a time – one soldier, then another, then the microbes, then the title (minus the key word)then ‘penicillin’ – see how long it takes them to work out what the lesson will be about – and why does this poster suggest that penicillin is important?

Prep for next week I will be putting you into groups of twos and giving you one of the key players in medicine – Fleming, Florey and Chain, Pasteur, Koch, Simpson and Lister. Do some research in preparation for next lesson where we will have the laptops out. We will be making presentations in groups and hand-outs for the class. These will be great revision tools.

10 minutes to stick in all sheets and underline titles 10 minutes to stick in all sheets and underline titles. I will be showing parents books this evening.

What is penicillin?  What part did chance play in the discovery of penicillin? How did war influence the development of penicillin?  How did governments help in the mass production of penicillin? What other factors were important in the development of the drug? Why was penicillin mass produced in 1942-1945 and not before? Who deserves most of the credit for Penicillin?